Denis Matsuev, St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra & Valery Gergiev
Biography Denis Matsuev, St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra & Valery Gergiev
Denis Matsuev
Since his triumph in the 1998 at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition, Denis Matsuev has become a virtuoso in the grandest of Russian pianistic tradition and has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation.
Mr. Matsuev performs with the world's best known orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, WDR of Cologne, BBC Symphony, “Philharmonia” Orchestra of London, Verbier and Budapest Festival Orchestras, Filarmonica della Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Symphony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the European Chamber Orchestra. He is continually re-engaged with the legendary Russian orchestras such as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra.
Highlights of upcoming seasons include appearances with Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and Valery Gergiev in the USA, Spain and France, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and Yury Temirkanov in Japan, Orchestre National de Lyon and Leonard Slatkin, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and Zoltan Kocsis, performancies in Austria and Germany, recitals during Klavier Festival Ruhr and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Denis will give recitals in the USA in Boston, Washington and New York in Carnegie Hall (Keyboard Virtuosos series), in London in Royal Festival Hall (International Piano series), Madrid in Auditorio Nacional de Musica, Amsterdam in Concertgebouw (Master Pianists series) and Moscow (the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory).
Denis Matsuev regularly appears with the most distinguished conductors on a stage today, including Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Paavo Jarvi, Antonio Pappano, Charles Dutoit, Alain Gilbert, Leonard Slatkin, Myung-Whun Chung, Semyon Bychkov, Iván Fischer, Adam Fisher, Gianandrea Noseda, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, James Conlon, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Yury Bashmet and others.
Mr. Matsuev is a frequent guest of world famous music festivals such as Verbier Festival and Lucerne Music Festival in Switzerland, BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival in Great Britain, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in Germany, Les Chorégies d’Orange and Festival de la Rogue d’Anthéron in France, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl in the U.S., Chopin Festival in Poland, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Mito Festival in Italy, Montreux Festival in Switzerland, Enescu Festival in Romania, Baltic Sea Festival in Sweden and Stars of the White Nights Festival in Russia.
For 11 consecutive years Denis Matsuev has his original series at The Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory “Denis Matsuev invites…”. Many famous orchestras, prominent conductors, outstanding soloists have taken part in it.
In 2010, in Avery Fisher Hall, the New York Philharmonic gave the orchestra’s 15,000th concert – a number unmatched by any other orchestra. Denis Matsuev was a leading soloist in this unprecedented milestone concert, which was conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev, and was praised highly by music critics.
For many years Denis Matsuev has led numerous musical festivals and educational projects which have added to his role as a prominent public figure. Since 2004 he has organized “Stars on Baikal” in Irkutsk, Siberia (in 2009 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Irkutsk), and since 2005 he has been the artistic director of the music festival “Crescendo” (a series of events held in international cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Tel Aviv, Kaliningrad, Paris and New York). In 2010 he became the artistic director of Annecy Music Festival in Annecy, France, with the goal to bring together Russian and French music cultures. In 2012 Denis Matsuev became the artistic director of I International “Astana Piano Passion” Festival and Competition as well as the artistic director of International Festival and Competition “Sberbank DEBUT” in Kiev in 2013. Additionally, Mr. Matsuev is the president of the charitable Russian foundation “New Names” that discovers and supports talented children and helps to develop music education in regions of his native Russia. More than 10000 children received monetary grants and/or opportunity to perform at the professional stage.
In 2007, RCA Red Seal released “Unknown Rachmaninoff” featuring Mr. Matsuev. The recording has received strong positive reviews praising his execution and creativity. His Carnegie Hall recital in November 2007 was recorded and released in 2009 as an album entitled “Denis Matsuev – Concert at Carnegie Hall.” The New York Times praised this performance writing “…his poetic instincts held fast in tender moments, with trills as thrillingly precise as one might ever hope to hear.”
Mariinsky Label releases include Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3, Shostakovich Concertos No. 1, No. 2 and Schedrin’s Fifth with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra in the famed Mariinsky Concert Hall. Among many awards granted is the Five Star rating of BBC Music Magazine. Norman Lebrecht wrote: “Neither is a virtuoso vehicle and, the composer apart, there is no pianist who has stamped these works decisively as his or her own. Denis Matsuev, a Siberian who made his name in Rachmaninoff is perhaps the first to come close”.
In April 2013 Denis Matsuev presented the record (RCA Red Seal) with S. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsody in Blue by G. Gershwin, accompanied by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of its music director Alan Gilbert.
In September 2013 the label LSO Live released a new disc with Denis Matsuev and LSO under baton of Valery Gergiev performing Symphonia Concertante by K. Szymanowski.
Gramophone has chosen Denis Matsuev’s recording of Tchaikovsky Concerti Nos. 1 & 2 as their recording of the month in April 2014.
“Matsuev’s Tchaikovsky No 1 is thrilling, the work’s drama excitingly to the fore – a new ‘personal benchmark’, says Jeremy Nicholas. That’s for you to decide, of course, but do hear it.” Gramophone (UK)
For many years Denis Matsuev has collaborated with the Sergei Rachmaninov Foundation, established by Alexander Rachmaninov, the grandson of the composer. Mr. Matsuev was chosen by the Foundation to perform and record Rachmaninov’s unknown pieces on the composer's own piano at the Rachmaninov house “Villa Senar” in Lucerne. Later, he became the artistic director of the Foundation. In 2013 – Rachmaninov’s 140th anniversary year – the Foundation presented series of concerts in the most prestigious concert halls throughout Russia and Europe.
Denis Matsuev’s awards include He is a laureate of prestigious “Shostakovich’s Prize” in Music as well as the State Prize of Russian Federation in Literature and Arts. He also is a “People’s Artist of Russia.” Denis Matsuev was named Honorary Professor of Moscow State University. He is a member of The Presidential Council for Culture and Arts, Honored Artist of Russia and he recently became the head of The Public Council under The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
In February 2014 Denis Matsuev was awarded the honour of performing at the official Closing Ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic games in Sochi.
Valery Gergiev & St. Petersburg Mariinsky Orchestra
The art of Valery Gergiev is in great demand throughout the world. The maestro is a remarkable representative of the St Petersburg performing school and a former pupil of the legendary Professor Ilya Musin. While still a student at the Leningrad Conservatoire, Gergiev won the incredibly prestigious Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition as well as the All-Union Conducting Competition in Moscow and was invited to join the Kirov (now the Mariinsky) Theatre, where at the age of thirty-five he was appointed Artistic Director of the Opera Company, while since 1996 he has been Artistic and General Director of the theatre.
Today, the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev gives some seven hundred and sixty performances each season in Russia and abroad and is the most regularly touring company in the world. The geography of its tours includes over thirty countries. Currently the Mariinsky Theatre performs at three venues – the historic theatre, the Concert Hall and the Mariinsky-II which opened in May 2013. Thanks to that, the Mariinsky Theatre may today call itself a theatre and concert complex that is unparalleled in Russia.
The arrival of Valery Gergiev at the helm marked the start of a period of renaissance and at times the careful restoration at the Mariinsky Theatre of the works by the great maestri of the past combined with intensive artistic development and a movement to new horizons. The maestro has overseen the emergence of a plethora of world-class singers, and under his management the theatre’s repertoire has become richer than it has ever been before. Today this repertoire features an incredibly broad range of works – from Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Musorgsky and Tchaikovsky to 20th century Russian and European classics such as operas by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Janáček, Richard Strauss and Britten. Gergiev pays particular attention to operas by contemporary Russian composers including such acclaimed maestri as Shchedrin, Karetnikov and Smelkov as well as to young musicians who have been given the opportunity to bring their ideas to life at one of the world’s greatest musical theatres.
One of the maestro’s most significant achievements has been a return to the performance of operas in the original language. For example, on the initiative and under the direction of Valery Gergiev the Mariinsky Theatre staged the first ever German language version of Wagner’s tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen in the history of Russian theatre (2003), which received great acclaim not just in Russia but also when performed on tour in Germany, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Great Britain and the USA.
The orchestra’s repertoire has also become significantly richer and more varied. In addition to operas and ballets it now includes symphony music and works in other genres of philharmonic music. The maestro has conducted the orchestra in performances of every symphony by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Mahler and Beethoven and works by Stravinsky, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Shchedrin, Tishchenko, Gubaidulina and Kancheli among myriad other composers.
Thanks to Gergiev’s efforts, 2006 saw the opening of the Concert Hall, which significantly broadened the repertoire possibilities of the company and the orchestra. Essentially the most ideal concert venue in Russia because of its exceptional acoustic qualities, the Concert Hall has facilitated the production of recordings on the Mariinsky label which the maestro founded in 2009. To date the label has released over twenty-five discs that have received lavish praise from the press and public alike. Currently two of the label’s most important projects are recording all of Shostakovich’s symphonies and Wagner’s entire tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Maestro Gergiev has organised and directs several international music festivals including the Moscow Easter Festival, the Mikkeli Festival (Finland), the Rotterdam Festival (The Netherlands) and Samara’s To Mstislav Rostropovich festival. Gergiev directs and is at the heart of the annual Stars of the White Nights festival in St Petersburg which he founded in 1993 and which was listed as one of the world’s ten greatest music festivals in 2009. Moreover, the maestro is also Artistic Director of other Mariinsky Theatre festivals including the New Horizons contemporary classical music festival, Maslenitsa, Brass Evenings at the Mariinsky and the Mariinsky ballet festival.
Gergiev is known for his active stance in the defence of humanitarian ideals. The maestro initiated a series of international charitable concerts entitled Beslan. Music in the Name of Peace which took place in New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Rome and Moscow. In August 2008 Valery Gergiev conducted a requiem concert before the ruined building of Government House in South Ossetia (Tskhinval). On 14 March 2011 the maestro performed Verdi’s Requiem in memory of the victims of a tragedy in Japan, while one year later he took part in a charity concert in Tokyo. In September 2012 Mariinsky Theatre performers and Gergiev gave their support to victims of a flood in Kuban.
As one of the greatest conductors in the world, Gergiev collaborates with the finest orchestras. Since 2007 he has been Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra with which he appears at the Barbican Centre, the BBC Proms festival and the Edinburgh Festival in addition to touring throughout Europe, the USA, Asia and Australia. He also works with the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna, New York and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras and the orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, while from 2015 he is Principal Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2014 the Children’s Chorus of Russia, founded on the initiative of Valery Gergiev on the basis of the All-Russian Choral Society, first performed a programme at the Mariinsky-II before taking part in the grand closing ceremony of the XXII Olympic Games in Sochi. In 2013 Valery Gergiev became Director of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, founded in New York on the initiative of Carnegie Hall. The orchestra’s first international tour took place with violinist Joshua Bell and featured concerts in Washington, Moscow, St Petersburg and London. Maestro Gergiev dedicates much to his attention to working with young musicians. He has appeared with the youth orchestras of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Verbier Festival and the Pacific Ocean Music Festival in Sapporo.
Gergiev’s artistic achievements have brought him numerous titles and awards. These include the title of People’s Artist of Russia (1996), the State Prize of Russia (1994 and 1999), government awards from Germany (Cross of the First Class “For Services”), Italy (Grand’ufficiale dell’Ordine al merito), France (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres), the Netherlands (Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion), Japan (Order of the Rising Sun), the honorary title of UNESCO Artist of the World, the Swedish Royal Academy of Music’s Polar Music Prize and Europe’s Glashütte Original Music Festival Prize in 2010 for his support of talented young musicians. That same year, Gergiev was elected Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the St Petersburg State University. He also joined the Council for Culture and the Arts of the Russian President and headed the organisational committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. In November 2011 France’s respected Classica magazine named him “Artist of the Year”. In 2012 he was awarded the titles of Honorary Doctor of the Moscow State University and Honorary Professor of the St Petersburg Conservatoire, while one year before that the maestro became Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival. On 1 May 2013 Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded maestro Gergiev the first title of Hero of Labour of Russia.
